Building better workforce relations begins on the first day of an employee’s job.
First impressions matter in the human resources arena. Unfortunately, many human resource professionals overlook a basic building block in developing positive employee relations – the employee handbook.
Most in HR view employee handbooks as nothing more than drab, mundane necessities of human relations. While it is true employee handbooks must contain basic rules and regulations, statements of policies and necessary laws, they also provide management with an opportunity to let new employees know they are a valued addition to the team.

First-day impressions

There should always be a “Welcome Page” in the front of the employee handbook, where your company’s president/CEO warmly greets the new employee, and briefly describes how the new employee’s presence will add to the excellence of the company. It also gives the president/CEO an opportunity to extol the philosophy of the company’s standards of excellence, acceptance and equal opportunity for all employees.
This does not suggest, however, that employee handbooks should be “all-encompassing” manuals. Employee handbooks need to contain operational policies and procedures, as well as prohibitions against sexual harassment, gender or age discrimination, retaliation, and other related areas of law.
Other, more mundane policies (such as vacation time, personal time off, company car usage) are more appropriately kept apart from the employee handbook in a separate binder. These policies are often revised and redistributed on a regular basis. Therefore, for ease of handling, such policies should be kept in a policy binder next to the employee handbook so that replacement copies can be easily exchanged. This procedure allows for editing, distributing and replacing the policies without having to republish the entire employee handbook with every change of policy. You should state in the employee handbook that all other company policies are kept in a separate policy manual.
New employees should receive a complete employee handbook and policy manual on their first day of work. Along with the materials, the employee should receive and sign an acknowledgement form stating (i) the date they received the materials; (ii) that they have or will read them thoroughly, and (iii) that they know to ask their supervisor or HR representative any questions regarding the employee handbook and policy manual.
As individual policies are updated or revised and distributed, a new acknowledgment form must be signed by each employee for each new policy, and copies of those acknowledgement forms should be placed in the employee’s personnel file.
Employers are not legally required to have employee handbooks. There are, however, certain legal requirements to have specific policies and related postings in the workplace.
Some of those requirements are: The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA); Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended 1991; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA); the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA); and various state workers’ compensation and Human Rights Commission information.

Salient employee handbook topics

Generally, some salient employee handbook topics include:

A description of the employment-at-will relationship;

A statement that the handbook replaces all previous versions;

A statement that the company is an equal employment opportunity employer, and setting forth the company’s commitment to equal employment opportunities, and that the company has a zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment of any kind;

A detailed reporting procedure should an employee believe that he or she has been discriminated or retaliated against on the job;

A description of work schedules, breaks, meal periods, and what constitutes a work week, as well as how overtime pay will be calculated;

A benefits section highlighting vacation and holiday policies, sick leave, leaves of absence, insurance coverage, and pension plans (all of which should be more fully described in the separate policy manual);

A section on work safety and rules of conduct and what is acceptable behavior in the workplace;

A description of employee evaluation and reporting procedures;

A section regarding wage and hour issues, since supervisors are not authorized to allow employees to “work off-the-clock” in violation of wage and hour laws; and

Advice on the importance of corrective discipline and the recording of those events by the supervisor.

Effectively prepared employee handbooks provide an employer with important and necessary legal defenses to employee discrimination lawsuits.
But you must be careful not to create a perceived contract of employment. The employee handbook must have properly placed disclosures in order to thwart any claim of contract. There must be no question in the employee’s mind that he or she is an “employee-at-will.”

The ‘rollout’

The “rollout” of any employee handbook should be done with a certain amount of senior management “fanfare.”
It should be clear to all employees the employee handbooks and policies are developed through a “top-down” managerial process. By having senior management involved in the rollout, employees will view the materials as being important to senior management, and it will be seen as a positive experience, rather than a negative one.
Whenever employee handbooks or policies are developed, revised or amended, copies should be distributed to employees in advance. Doing so shows a deep level of professionalism and courtesy by the senior management.
It takes away the inherent fear of ambush and surprise, which might otherwise be the perception of the employees who suddenly receive these important materials with no notice.
Further, it allows employees the opportunity to read the materials, and come up with questions that can easily be addressed by management before miscomprehension takes hold, which may create anxiety or fear on behalf of the employees.
Brian L. Champion is a partner at the law firm of Verrill Dana LLP in Portland, Maine and Boston, where his practice focuses on representing management in labor and employment law and civil litigation. You can contact Mr. Champion at www.verrilldana.com.